>> Monday, October 7, 2013

The Chartered Financial Analyst
(CFA) Program is a professional credential offered by the CFA Institute
to investment and financial professionals, particularly in
the fields of investment management and financial analysis of stocks,
bonds and their derivative assets. A candidate who successfully
completes the program and meets other professional requirements is
awarded a "CFA charter" and becomes a "CFA charterholder".The program focuses on portfolio
management and financial analysis, and provides a generalist knowledge
of other areas of finance. Additionally, the CFA charter has experienced
increasing relevance and demand within corporate finance.To become a charter holder a candidate must satisfy the following requirements:
- Have four years (48 months) of qualified work experience
- Become a member of the CFA Institute and apply for membership to a local CFA member society
- Adhere to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct
- Complete the CFA ProgramCompleting the CFA Program
involves passing 3 levels of 6 hours examination each level. The median passing
rate for Level 1 is about 39%, for Level 2 is about 44% and for Level 3
is about 57%. However, the passing rate seems to be decreasing in recent
years.Having completed this grueling
program, fulfilled all the requirements, and successfully applied for
the charter, looking back, it has been quite a journey. The annual ritual of going to Singapore Expo, hear the monotonous announcer give the same no nonsense speech, squeeze with the thousands for a quick lunch and the physical/mental exhaustion parallel to a full marathon.I suppose many take up the
program for various reasons. For me, it all started when I was
introduced to investing when my “Financial Advisor” aka insurance agent
shared with me about the importance to invest. Needless to say, I
started an Investment Linked Plan with him and the rest was history.
Well, he was right, investing is important. However, what he forgot to
emphasize is how one invest is just as important. And by history, I mean
literally the ILP lost almost everything and now only part of just a
memory.Along came another friend who
was a broker and I naturally obliged to open a stock trading account
with him. He started providing some good tips on stocks to invest and
gradually, I was making some small profit. However, this mini bull run was
pretty short lived. Having grown bolder with his successful advice, I
went heavily into a stock called “Unifood” at 60 plus cents. I had not learnt
the discipline of a stop loss yet and today, I still have that stock as
a reminder of my foolishness. It is now less than 6 cents.Enough is enough, no one is
going to be responsible about my money except myself. I needed to
learn investing, so what are my options. Some options include, courses
from gurus sharing their investing prowess, a post graduate masters
programmes or the CFA program. After a quick comparison, it was a no
brainer.Most courses by gurus cost over
$3,000 and there were absolutely no guaranteed nor tangible benefits
after completing the course. Masters pursuit cost upwards of $10,000
which I could not afford and one with global recognition will cost even
more. The CFA program if I were to pass all 3 levels on the first
attempt without attending any classes will cost about $3,000 and have
global recognition.No regrets on my choice. All the best to candidates who are also pursuing this route. Gambatte!

Featured Blogger

Singapore Memory Project

About Me

I hope that you will find this site useful and informative.
Do drop me your feedback on how i can further improve.
And should u have any queries and comments, please post them and i shall be more than happy to address them.

Labels

Disclaimer

Privacy

The owner of this blog does not share personal information with third-parties nor does the owner store information is collected about your visit for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at anytime by modifying your Internet browser’s settings. The owner is not responsible for the republishing of the content found on this blog on other Web sites or media without permission.

Blog Comments

The owner of this blog reserves the right to edit or delete any comments submitted to this blog without notice due to;

1. Comments deemed to be spam or questionable spam2. Comments including profanity3. Comments containing language or concepts that could be deemed offensive4. Comments that attack a person individually

Terms and Conditions

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

This policy is subject to change at anytime.

About This Blog

To promote the education of individuals for the need to have a healthy lifestyle and wealth management through proper financial planning, particularly in investments.